Not only does UCSD's
Materials Science and Engineering Program offer students
great opportunities in the research arena, but the local
area offers quite a variety of activities. Students quickly
discover why San Diego (and La Jolla where UCSD is located)
is often referred to as "America's Finest City".
Surf, Sun and Societies...
Students can enjoy various extra-curricular activities on campus as well as off campus. Some examples of off-campus activities include sailing lessons in San Diego bay, surfing lessons in San Diego, La Jolla, or Delmar beaches, scuba diving, hang gliding, hot air ballooning, to name a few. Hiking in the Torrey Pines State Reserve terrains overlooking the waves in the Pacific Ocean is relaxing and enjoyable. The Torrey Pines golf course, located next to the State Reserve, is the site for 2008 US Open, and is available at a substantial discount for local residents.
UCSD's 1,200-acre campus spreads from the seashore, where the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is located, across a large wooded portion of the Torrey Pines Mesa overlooking the Pacific Ocean. To the east and north lie mountains, and to the south are Mexico and the almost uninhabited seacoast of Baja California.
From this base, a rare mixture of academic excellence and recreational activities literally surrounds students. A guide published by the education editor of the New York Times placed UCSD among the top institutions in terms of academics, quality of life, and social life. UCSD shared that rating with some of the most venerable and renowned institutions in the nation, for example, the 2006 ranking (by US News and World Report) for the UCSD College of Engineering being the 11th in the nation, and that for the Materials Science & Engineering Program being the 18th in the nation.
The campus is divided into six colleges, each independent in goals and philosophies and yet interrelated by academic and support facilities. Students enrolled in Materials Science and Engineering will be attending most of their classes and conducting research in modern building structures and laboratories equipped with a variety of convenient experimental facilities.
In addition to frequenting the beach, bay and nearby mountains, Materials Science students are currently establishing a student chapter of Materials Research Society. Additionally, there is an active Graduate Student Association that provides the students with an array of activities ranging from journal clubs to social mixers with various departments across campus.
Current campus enrollment is about 20,000: 17,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students. The Materials Science & Engineering Program has ~65 registered graduate students at the beginning of the Fall'07 Quarter.